


Curious One

by DreamerInSilico



Series: The Names We're Given [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Pre-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 09:09:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6797866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamerInSilico/pseuds/DreamerInSilico
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A teenage Catrin Hawke notices a very odd raven hanging about the village.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Curious One

**Author's Note:**

> Ported over from my tumblr. It’s been a headcanon of mine for a very long time that Morrigan and Hawke knew one another before the Blight. This might turn into a whole pre-game series of mini-fics, depending on time and mental bandwidth.

The raven was still there.

She had noticed it in passing on her way into the market because it stood out like an inkblot against the clear sky where it perched on a fencepost. When she made the return trip an hour later, the bird remained, watching passerby intently, head tilting to track those who walked before it.

It was probably some sort of omen, by Chantry standards. Catrin snorted softly to herself and continued back to her family’s modest home.

Disinclined toward actual superstition though she was, however, Catrin Hawke started to wonder when she saw the same bird again the next day. And it _was_ the same raven, because this time, there were two others, and with those to compare it to she realized what it was that had seemed so uncanny about the creature the day before: rather than the usual beady black, that one’s eyes were a deep gold.

Its two companions fluttered and strutted around; it simply sat, as it had before, and watched.

Catrin shifted the sling-bag she carried across her shoulder and took a few steps in the ravens’ direction. The two black-eyed ones croaked and winged up and away to a nearby tree, but the first remained, still watching.

“You’re a curious one, aren’t you?” she muttered. The bird, being a bird, did not answer, and after a moment, she shrugged and continued on her path to the mill.

…

A week later, Catrin was in the marketplace with her younger sister, trading herbs and fresh eggs for other goods, when the elder Hawke’s eyes caught on a slender, dark-haired stranger who loitered by a book stall. Travelers were not so uncommon in Lothering that it was a surprise to see a stranger, of course, but one alone, and so young – that was unusual.

The woman could not have been any older than Catrin, herself – perhaps sixteen or seventeen – and she dressed more like a Chasind than a villager, which was a whole other level of odd, considering she was unaccompanied. Curiosity got the better of Catrin, and she left Bethany chatting with a neighbor to feign interest at the bookseller, herself.

A passing glance from those bright, golden eyes startled her enough that she nearly took a step back before she recovered her composure.

“Have… we met?” she ventured cautiously, after a moment.

The other young woman smirked as she answered, voice low and accent almost archaic. “You are a curious one, indeed.” Catrin’s own words, reflected – a tacit answer to the question.

Could she tell that Catrin was a mage, as well, or was she simply that audacious? _A shapeshifter._ A chill chased up Catrin’s spine. If she was that audacious, she probably had good reason to be.

“When I see someone who interests me, yes,” she replied playfully. Few enough such people passed through Lothering that she would seize the opportunity, perilous as it could be. “And you, serah, are _very_ interesting.”

“A pity, then, that today I must not linger,” the woman murmured. “I must soon make a purchase and depart. Perhaps you’ve a recommendation?” She arched a dark eyebrow, challenge glinting in her gaze.

Catrin smiled, hiding her disappointment. “Perhaps. What genre?”

Her answer was simple and faintly surprising, given the two rather dense philosophy texts already tucked under her arm. “Poetry, I think.”

Surprising as it was, Catrin did have an answer. “ _Solstice Songs of the Alamarri_ ,” she said almost immediately, tapping a worn cover with her fingertip. It was not a particularly diverse collection, but she had found it superior to most in that it included both translation of its contents as well as the original language.

“Very well,” the woman assented with a slight nod, taking up the volume and adding it to her stack before glancing about to locate the vendor. “Should our paths cross once again, I will give my opinion of your taste.”

Catrin nodded, smile stretching wider as she extended a hand in formal greeting. “Catrin Hawke,” she offered.

The other woman did not move to take her hand, only looking down at it with an expression of bemused distaste. But before she turned to pay for the books, she offered up a single name.

“Morrigan.”


End file.
